Christmas Wishes
by Sun
Summary: The Agency has been invited to the annual interagency ball and our favorite agents are going. This takes place 6 months after "We Can Be Heroes" and 5 months after "Darkness Within."


Eberts coughed lightly as he stood inside the door of the lab. The women working inside looked up from what they were doing.

"Hullo, Albert. What can we do for you?" Claire asked.

"The Official sent me to deliver these." He handed each of them an envelope made of heavy cream paper.

Maggie took hers and opened it carefully. The inside of the envelope was lined with shiny red paper. She pulled out a single note care of the same creamy paper. A silver snowflake adorned the top of the card. As she read the words, her fingers savored the cool smoothness of the paper. She rubbed her thumb over the slick raised printing.

"We're having a Holiday Ball." Maggie was amazed. In all her years she'd been with the Agency, holiday parties always meant a small torturous affair with bad food and bad music.

Claire was smiling. "How wonderful. I can't remember the last time we had a good holiday party." Eberts nodded at them and left the lab without saying anything.

Maggie looked at Claire, a broad smile on her face. "Formal dress. I have to get a formal dress."

"This means we need to go shopping," Claire agreed.

* * *

Darien and Hobbes stared at the envelopes Eberts had just delivered to them.

"Paper this nice means we're gonna be dressing up, partner," Hobbes pointed out, using a letter opener to slice open the envelope. He extracted the invitation from the bright red interior. "Yup. Inter-Agency Holiday Ball."

Darien groaned. Dressing up was not his favorite thing to do. "It's black tie."

Hobbes grinned at the thought of his laid back partner being forced to wear a tux. "It'll be fun."

Darien rolled his eyes. "Sure. Fun like a root canal."

* * *

Maggie stuck her head into the file room. Eberts was sitting on a filing box, carefully putting files away in the bottom drawer of a filing cabinet.

"Eberts?" she called as she stepped into the room.

He looked up from what he was doing and looked over his shoulder at her. "Yes, Magdalena?"

"About this ball, well, Claire is going with one of the other lab rats and I was wondering if you'd want to escort me to the party. As friends." She sat down near him on one of the filing boxes.

"What about Agent Fawkes? I assumed you'd be going with him." Eberts was surprised by Maggie's question.

Maggie shrugged. "I don't know if he likes me like that." She stopped and ran over what she'd just said in her head. "God, I sound like I'm twelve."

"Well, I do not have an escort either, Magdalena. So I would be happy to go with you." He smiled at her and briefly wondered what the Official was going to say. He'd probably be happy she was steering clear of Fawkes. "What time should I pick you up?"

"Seven?"

"Seven sounds fine. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got lots more filing to do." Eberts picked up another stack of files.

Maggie nodded and left the filing room, feeling much better than she had when she went in.

* * *

The day of the party finally arrived and, to the shock of the agents, The Official let them leave early so they could get ready. Maggie had happily taken her inhibitor shot from Claire and gone home to soak in a nice hot bath before getting dressed. Eberts wasn't picking her up until seven and Maggie wanted to take her time getting ready.

Her gown was hanging from the back of her closet door. She and Claire had spent a happy afternoon in the shops in downtown San Diego before finding the silver satin gown she was going to wear. The dress was strapless, the bodice designed with a twisting effect down to a full skirt.

Maggie let her hair dry naturally into a riot of curls that she pulled back from her face with glittery silver barrettes. Carefully, Maggie took her dress from the hanger and stepped into it. She closed her eyes and raised the zipper telekinetically. Looking into the mirror over her dresser, Maggie put on her rhinestone earrings and necklace. She twisted and spun so she could see as much of herself as possible in the mirror before grabbing her wrap and purse and heading downstairs.

She set her wrap and purse on the hall table and went into the kitchen to get something to drink. As she set her glass in the sink, the doorbell rang.

Eberts looked nervous when she opened the door. He held out a small poinsettia plant to her with a smile. "I wasn't sure if this was corsage type event. I thought that might be too high school prom-ish."

Maggie took the plant and set it on the hall table. "It's lovely, Eberts. Thank you."

"You look very nice, Magdalena," he said, as she put on her wrap and picked up her purse and keys.

Maggie smiled. "Thank you. You look nice too." He did look nice in his classic black tux.

He held his arm out to her. "Ready?"

Maggie nodded. She pulled the front door shut behind them and took his offered arm.

* * *

Darien and Hobbes parked themselves near the buffet table. Hobbes laughed as Darien fidgeted in his tux.

"Where are the girls?" Darien asked before popping an appetizer into his mouth.

Hobbes shrugged. "Are they coming together? I thought I heard Eberts saying something about picking up Maggie."

At that moment, Claire arrived with Josh from Research and Development. She was wearing a burgundy cocktail dress. She saw the men and waved, pulling Josh over towards them.

"Dates? I didn't know this was a date thing," Darien said sullenly. Had he known, he would have asked Maggie. He looked at Hobbes. "I guess that makes you my date."

Hobbes almost spit out the cracker he'd just put in his mouth. He shook his head vigorously. "Uh uh. No way. We each came stag. We just came stag together."

Darien laughed. Claire looked at each of them as she approached. "I don't think I want to know what was going on. Maggie's not here yet?"

"Nope." Hobbes was eyeing Claire's date like he was something distasteful.

"Oh, this is Josh. He works in RD." She introduced her date to them. "Josh, this is Darien and Bobby. They're field agents."

* * *

Maggie looped her arm with Eberts's. She was nervous and she could feel her control slipping just a little. Unfortunately, by holding onto Eberts, she was passing on her nervousness to him. He hadn't really noticed yet and she was hoping to at least get inside before he did.

Music spilled out of the ballroom of the W Hotel as they approached. The ballroom had been decorated in shades of red and green, in keeping with the season. There was a dance floor set up in front of the band and scattered tables all around the room. A buffet table lined each side of the ballroom and Maggie caught sight of Darien, Hobbes and Claire standing next to the one on the far side of the room.

"Over there." She pointed out their coworkers to Eberts. He nodded and led the way. Maggie noticed he was looking increasingly jumpy as they walked. Someone bumped into him and he let out a yelp.

"Magdalena, are you doing this?" he asked, moving a little faster through the crowd.

She nodded. "I'm sorry Eberts. When I get nervous, I unconsciously project to whoever I'm touching. Usually, it's Darien or Hobbes. They know how to handle it."

"It's okay." He patted her hand as they approached the small group.

"Rourke, Eberts. Didn't know you were coming together." Hobbes cast a sidelong glance at Darien.

"Magdalena asked me to escort her as a friend." Eberts caught the look Hobbes threw at Darien. Looking out into the sea of people, he saw the Official waving at him, beckoning him to come over. "If you'll excuse me, the Official is calling me over." He disengaged Maggie's arm from his and gave her a smile before melting into the crowd.

Maggie looked overwhelmed for a moment and unconsciously reached out for Darien's arm. "You look nice," she told him.

Hobbes grinned. "You should have seen him fussing about it earlier, kitten."

"You look nice too Bobby." She turned to Claire. "Hey Claire, Josh."

Josh nodded at her before turning to Claire. "Wanna dance?"

Claire smiled. "Sure. Excuse us." She followed him onto the dance floor.

"Friendly fellow," Hobbes remarked when they were out of earshot.

"He's not normally this quiet. I think you intimidate him, Bobby," Maggie told him. Darien tugged on her arm. She looked up at him.

"Dance?"

"I don't know how."

Darien tugged at her arm. "Come on. You can stand on my feet." With a smile at Hobbes, she let him lead the way to the dance floor.

Darien put one hand on Maggie's waist and took her other hand in his. "Just follow me." He moved them in a slow circle. "You look really beautiful, Mags."

"Thank you." She blushed and looked down.

Darien captured her chin and made her look up. "Don't do that."

"What?"

"Look down. I'm only telling you the truth." He grinned and gave her a quick spin.

* * *

While they were dancing, Hobbes found an empty table. Maggie and Darien joined him. He was watching Claire and Josh on the dance floor.

"Your Hulk side is showing, Bobby," Maggie said with a smile. He looked at her puzzled. "Y'know, Hulk, green, jealousy."

"I'm not jealous," Hobbes protested.

Maggie smirked. "Sure you're not. You haven't taken your eyes off of her."

"Go ask her to dance, Hobbsey." Darien prodded his partner.

Hobbes shook his head. "Mags, come dance." He held out his hand to her. Shaking her head, Maggie smiled at Darien and followed Hobbes onto the dance floor.

"He meant ask Claire to dance."

"I know that. I wanted to dance with you," Hobbes told her.

Maggie shook her head. "You are so jealous," She laughed as Hobbes swung her around and into his arms. His hand rested lightly around her waist as he guided her around the dance floor. "Why haven't you said anything to her?"

"I don't fish off the company pier, if you know what I mean," Hobbes reminded her.

"Somehow I knew that's what you were going to say." Maggie stepped on Hobbes's foot and she winced. "Sorry."

"Don't worry about it. I can hobble along on one foot," he joked. "Why haven't you said anything to Fawkes? Anyone can tell just by looking at the two of you that there's something there."

"I don't know. I guess I was just not sure he felt the same way."

"Claire was surprised you didn't ask him to the ball." He twirled her around and she tried to spin in the wrong direction. "You are hopeless."

She laughed embarrassed. "Dancing was one thing Nick never taught me." Maggie noticed Josh leaving Claire alone at the edge of the dance floor. She nudged Hobbes's shoulder. "Now's your chance, Bobby. Go ask Claire to dance." She gave him a quick hug and scurried off the floor.

Darien looked bemused when she sat down. "What did you say to him?"

"Just that he should go ask Claire to dance." Maggie pointed to where Claire and Bobby were. "Josh left her and it was the perfect opportunity."

"You hungry? I'll go get us something from the buffet," Darien asked.

Maggie pursed her lips. "All right, yeah. Thank you."

"Be right back."

* * *

Claire and Hobbes joined Darien and Maggie at the table. They were both carrying plates of food. Maggie nudged Darien when she saw Hobbes pull out Claire's chair for her. He nodded and shot her a sly smile.

Hobbes caught the exchange. "You two cut it out."

Maggie feigned innocence. "They sure put up a good spread for this shindig," she said, trying to change the subject.

Claire nodded, oblivious to what just transpired. "Yes, it's much nicer than I expected."

Hobbes shot a warning look at Maggie. "Must be that inter-agency cooperation. Can't imagine we'd get this if it was just our little welfare organization." He sounded a little bitter.

"It sounds to me like you don't appreciate what the Official has done for us here, Hobbes." Darien's voice held just a touch of sarcasm.

Hobbes pointed at Darien with a chicken wing. "All I'm saying is that the fat man could be using the money we put into this for other things."

"Like what?" Claire looked at him pointedly.

"Giving me a raise, for example," Hobbes said matter of factly. "Or buying you some new equipment."

"Well, he didn't," Maggie cut off Hobbes's potential rant. "I happen to be having a good time. This is my first ball, you know."

"I know, Kitten. I was just trying to point out that this money could have been better spent elsewhere."

Darien sighed loudly. "Will you two cut it out? You're acting like kids."

Maggie gave Hobbes the most innocent smile she could manage. "Only if he goes and gets me a piece of that chocolate cake."

"All right." Hobbes glanced at Claire. "You want one too?"

Claire looked surprised. "Do you even have to ask?"

* * *

The foursome had a good time at the party. Josh showed up once more for a dance and again when it was time to leave, but Hobbes's glares made him keep his distance the rest of the evening. Eberts also kept his distance during the ball, but not by his own choice.

As the party was winding down, Eberts approached Maggie. "I'm sorry I wasn't a better escort, Magdalena. The Official had some errands he wanted me to run. He also wants me to stay for the clean up," Eberts explained. He looked unhappy about it.

"That's all right, Eberts. I'm sure I can find a ride home from someone." She patted him on the arm.

Darien spoke up, "I can drive you home."

"You don't mind Darien?" Maggie looked at him.

He shook his head. "No. It's not a problem."

Maggie turned back to Eberts. "See. Problem solved. Thank you for escorting me Eberts." She leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. "Merry Christmas."

Eberts blushed. "Merry Christmas Maggie, Fawkes." He smiled at both of them and walked away.

Darien looked at Maggie. "Are you ready to go?"

She nodded. "I just want to say good bye to everyone." Darien followed her around the room as she said her goodbyes to the Official and Josh. Claire and Hobbes were also leaving and the quartet walked out together.

"Good night, Claire. Merry Christmas." Maggie gave Claire a quick hug. Claire said goodbye and headed for her car.

"I'm parked over here, Kitten. You have a good holiday." Hobbes gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Merry Christmas, Fawkes."

"Happy Hanukkah, Bobby," Maggie said. Darien waved and Hobbes walked towards Golda.

Maggie took Darien's arm as they walked to his car. She took a deep breath of the cool air gratefully. "It's warm in there."

Darien nodded. "It was." He looked up at the sky. "Hey, make a wish."

She looked at him. "What?"

He pointed up at the sky. "Falling star. Make a wish." Maggie closed her eyes tightly and made a wish. Darien looked at her expectantly. "Well?"

"If I tell you, it won't come true," she said, giving his shoulder a push.

Darien leaned down so his mouth was close to her ear. "Claire told me a secret."

Maggie giggled. His breath tickled her. "What secret?"

"Tomorrow's your birthday."

"It is." She was a little surprised Claire had remembered.

Darien opened the car door and reached inside. He pulled out a square shaped package. "Happy birthday." He handed the package to her.

"Oh, Darien, you didn't have too." She accepted the package and undid the wrapping. Inside was a square of a honey colored stone sitting on a dark wood platform.

"It's a dream stone." He reached around the side and flipped a small switch. The stone began to glow softly. "If you put it by your bed, you'll have good dreams."

Maggie stared at the stone for a moment. "Darien, this is the most thoughtful present I've ever received." She looked up at him. "Thank you."

He held the car door open for her. "You're welcome," he said, as she slid onto the seat. Darien jogged around to the driver's side of the car and got in. Maggie was still looking at the stone, turning it over and rubbing her fingers over the top.

They drove home in comfortable silence. No one spoke until he pulled into her driveway. Darien got out and opened the door for Maggie. "Here we are, Madame." He put out a hand to help her out of the car.

Maggie slipped her hand into his and got out of the car. "Thank you, sir." She waited until he closed the car door and then put her hand on her sleeve. They walked up to the front door. "Well, thank you, Darien. For driving me home. And for my present."

"Merry Christmas, Maggie," Darien said quietly. His hand sank into the soft curls at the back of her neck as he leaned down and kissed her tenderly.

Maggie was startled for a moment before she responded, putting one arm around his neck. She felt a trickling of coolness on the back of her neck. At the same time, a wave of nervousness washed over her. She pulled back and opened her eyes.

Darien's arm that was connected to the hand in her hair was completely gone. Maggie suspected that if she could see it, most of her neck would also be missing. Darien noticed as well and cursed. He let go of her and gave his arm a shake. As soon as he let go of Maggie, the nervousness disappeared.

"Was that you?" she asked.

"What? The Quicksilver? Of course." Darien reached out and brushed the Quicksilver off of her neck.

She shook her head. "No. The nervousness. It came on out of nowhere."

"I thought it was you." He leaned back against the doorframe.

"It might have been me." Maggie chewed on her lower lip. "That was my first kiss."

Darien straighten up. "Really?"

Maggie nodded. "Yeah."

"Well, I suppose that was another birthday present then." He smiled. Cocking his head to one side, he reached out for her again. "I guess this one's for Christmas." Darien kissed Maggie again, coaxing her to open her mouth. He wrapped an arm around her waist and they stumbled back against the door.

When they broke apart, both of them were breathing hard. Maggie fumbled with her keys, trying to open the door. "Good night, Darien," she said in a breathy voice. "Merry Christmas."

"Night, Maggie. Merry Christmas." He watched her until she was inside and the door was shut. As Darien walked away, a grin spread over his face. On the other side of the door, Maggie was also smiling. Her Christmas wish had come true.


End file.
